LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law creates the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board and requires the board to perform various duties relating to the protection of subsurface installations. Existing law requires an excavator planning to conduct an excavation to notify the appropriate regional notification center of the excavator’s intent to excavate at least 2 working days, and not more than 14 calendar days, before beginning that excavation. Existing law requires the regional notification center to take the information and provide a ticket, and prohibits an excavator from beginning excavation until the excavator receives a response from all known operators of subsurface installations within the delineated boundaries of the proposed area of excavation, as provided. Existing law,
commencing January 1, 2018, authorizes every operator to supply an electronic positive response through the regional notification center before the legal excavation start date and time, and requires the regional notification center to make those responses available to the excavator. Existing law defines an electronic positive response, for these purposes, to mean an electronic response from an operator to the regional notification center providing the status of an operator’s statutorily required response to a ticket.

This bill would, instead, on and after January 1, ____, 2021, require every operator to supply an electronic positive response through the regional notification center before the legal excavation start date and time.
time, and would require the board, on or before January 1, 2021, to adopt regulations to implement this requirement. The bill would also require the board to oversee technology development in communication between regional notification centers and operators that enhances safety, accountability, and efficiency on a reasonable schedule for compliance.

Digest Key

Vote:
MAJORITY
Appropriation:
NO
Fiscal Committee:
YES
Local Program:
NO

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 4216.3 of the Government Code is amended to read:

4216.3.

(a) (1) (A) Unless the excavator and operator mutually agree to a later start date and time, or otherwise agree to the sequence and timeframe in which the operator will locate and field mark, an operator shall do one of the following before the legal excavation start date and time:

(i) Locate and field mark within the area delineated for excavation and, where multiple subsurface installations of the same type are known to exist together, mark the number of subsurface installations.

(ii) To the extent and degree of accuracy that the information is available, provide information to an
excavator where the operator’s active or inactive subsurface installations are located.

(iii) Advise the excavator it operates no subsurface installations in the area delineated for excavation.

(C) An operator shall indicate with an “A” inside a circle the presence of any abandoned subsurface installations, if known, within the delineated area. The markings are to make an excavator aware that there are abandoned subsurface installations within that delineated work area.

(3) A qualified person performing subsurface installation locating activities on behalf of an operator shall use a minimum of a single-frequency utility locating device and shall have access to alternative sources for verification, if necessary.

(4) An operator shall amend, update, maintain, and preserve all plans and records for its subsurface installations as that information becomes known. If there is a change in ownership of a subsurface installation, the records shall be turned over to the new operator. Commencing January 1, 2017, records on abandoned subsurface installations, to the extent that those records exist, shall be retained.

(b) If the field marks are no longer reasonably visible, an excavator
shall renotify the regional notification center with a request for remarks that can be for all or a portion of the excavation. Excavation shall cease in the area to be remarked. If the delineation markings are no longer reasonably visible, the excavator shall redelineate the area to be remarked. If remarks are requested, the operator shall have two working days, not including the date of request, to remark the subsurface installation. If the area to be remarked is not the full extent of the original excavation, the excavator shall delineate the portion to be remarked and provide a description of the area requested to be remarked on the ticket. The excavator shall provide a description for the area to be remarked that falls within the area of the original location request.

(c) (1) (A) On and after January 1, ____, 2021, every operator shall supply an electronic positive response through the regional notification center before the legal excavation start date and time. The On or before January 1, 2021, the board shall adopt regulations to implement this requirement.

(B) The
regional notification center shall make those responses
the responses required by subparagraph (A) available to the excavator.

(2) The board shall oversee technology development in communication between regional notification centers and operators that enhances safety, accountability, and efficiency on a reasonable schedule for compliance.

(d) The excavator shall notify the appropriate regional notification center of the failure of an operator to identify subsurface installations pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), or subdivision (b). The notification shall include the ticket issued by the regional notification center. A record of all notifications received pursuant to this subdivision shall be
maintained by the regional notification center for a period of not less than three years. The record shall be available for inspection pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 4216.2.

(e) If an operator or local agency knows that it has a subsurface installation embedded or partially embedded in the pavement that is not visible from the surface, the operator or local agency shall contact the excavator before pavement removal to communicate and determine a plan of action to protect that subsurface installation and excavator.